


Hey, You're Alright

by claryourcanvas (orphan_account)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, I also wrote this last month, I don't like the way it came out at all, I literally wrote this half asleep, M/M, lots of swearing?!!?!?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-07
Updated: 2012-11-07
Packaged: 2017-11-18 03:44:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/556535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/claryourcanvas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm afraid I've got some bad news."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hey, You're Alright

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this literally last month, and I'm not sure I like it. I was digging through my Tumblr and figured I'd put it up just so I could put something up.

~:~

Harry was five when they became best friends. Best friends, except for his mother and sister.

They met at the playground at school, and Louis was playing with the glue stick he’d stolen from class and Harry was scooping up little wads of glue with his wood chips and making a tiny house. And even though Louis was seven and Harry was two years younger, they made a fine pair.

When he’d finished with the little house, Louis smiled. “Hey. You’re alright.”

~:~

~:~

Harry was fifteen when he discovered his sexuality.

He’d come home one day, and everything was sort of clear to him; why he never really had a girlfriend, no matter how much the fawned over his dimples or curly hair. He felt a little bit stupid that he hadn’t figured it out before.

As soon as he realized it, other people realized it too. People started calling him “the gay one” and poking fun, and it was mainly Niall, but he’s always been a damn goofball and it was all lighthearted until it stopped being Niall and it started being football players and then it wasn’t funny anymore.

Harry ended up in the locker room floor, arms tied behind his back, buck-naked, trapped under the clear bench like he was in the middle of Sixteen Candles.

It was Louis who took him out and got him dressed and carded his fingers through his hair and kissed his forehead and whispered, “Hey, you’re alright,” until he said it enough that it almost lost meaning.

Almost.

~:~

~:~

Harry was eighteen and he was graduating from high school when it happened. He had friends and he had family and he had a boyfriend and he was grateful and he was happy. He was sort of tired of the whole “teen angst” thing at that point. He was pretty self-actualized and content and god damn it, everything just had to go to shit.

It was graduation and his family was late. His family was often late, but they’d sort of made a promise for graduation, to not be late. It was a promise and they broke it and as he waited for the ceremony to begin, he made a mental note to give them the silent-treatment.

Louis had showed up, though. That was at least something.

Harry was somewhat hysterical toward his boyfriend because this was his day, not anyone else’s, and two out of the three people who mattered just about most to him were nowhere to be found.

And yeah, that sort of sucked.

“Harry, breathe,” and he sucked in.

“Let it out babe. Breathing requires exhales,” and Louis raised his hand onto Harry’s stomach and could practically feel the butterflies.

“Hey. You’re alright.” He left kisses at the top of Harry’s head and held him tight and ignored Niall and Liam’s gagging noises and flipped him off. “Fuck you two. His family didn’t show up. Be a bit supportive you assholes.”

Niall and Liam, however, were less than offended. They were used to this kind of treatment. They often retaliated but Niall just wiggled his nose in response. “Hey, I’m the one filming this. You can be at least a bit respectful. It’s like 8AM, be lucky I showed up.”

So it went like that for a while, and then Harry had to go sit down, and Niall filmed, and Louis clapped, and Zayn was probably sleeping, and Liam was going to make a Valedictorian speech and Niall filmed it because Niall thought he was fascinating.

It was 9:05 when Zayn called, and Harry was about to be called up and Louis wouldn’t have answered if it was anyone but Zayn. Zayn only called in emergencies.

“Hey mate, what’s up?” The principal called for _Gabriela Srapley_.

“Turn on channel seven.” His voice was crackly and rough. _James Srapley_.

“Can’t. I’m at Harry’s graduation, remember?” _Jennifer Strong. Kevin Stupor_. “What’s wrong, just tell me.”

Zayn took a deep breath. “It’s Anne and Gemma.” _Harry Styles_. “Looks like they’ve been in an accident.”

~:~

Harry stepped onto the podium, shook the principal’s hand, grabbed the diploma, and raised his arms in triumph. Niall snapped a picture. Louis was frozen. Harry had no idea.

Louis felt like he was dreaming. This can’t be happening this can’t be happening.

How bad is it, what kind of accident, are they okay, they’re okay right? Looks pretty bad. Car crash. We don’t know yet. Calm down, Louis, we don’t know yet.

And Zayn was totally calm and collected about this. That meant they were okay, right? They were going to be alright, right? If they were in any real danger Zayn would have been worried.

Zayn stayed on the phone with Louis for a while. He kept the live-news-coverage on maximum volume so Louis could hear through the phone.

“The woman behind the wheel of the minivan has been identified as Anne Styles, her daughter Gemma in the passenger seat. Nothing has been set official, but judging from the force of impact and damage set on the car, it doesn’t look good for them, or the other two cars. One, a truck, seems to have the least amount of damage, and as you already saw, the driver James Kirpatrick walked off the scene with a few scrapes and bruises. The owner of the final car has not been identified.”

“The last driver has been identified as Alyssa Andover, and her two month old son Brandon. Alyssa is in critical condition and the infant is now on life support.”

“No word yet on the Styles’ family, other than that they are both under medical observation, and it’s not looking good. Brandon has been announced dead, and his mother is under a medicated coma.”

“Both Gemma and Anne Styles are in critical condition at this point.”

“The families are being contacted, but the official information regarding Alyssa, Gemma, and Anne are not to be announced to the public until all of the contacts have been informed.”

It was almost 11 and the ceremony was still in progress. Harry’s phone was left in Louis’ hand, and he’d been tossing and turning and flipping it in anxiety and worry. If they weren’t okay, they would call. If they weren’t okay, they wouldn’t call. If they weren’t okay, they wouldn’t call.

His phone vibrated.

Louis picked it up with a shaky voice. “Hello?”

“Is this Harry Styles?”

Louis tightened his lips. “Yes, this is Harry Styles.” Niall raised an eyebrow at him and Louis couldn’t gather the energy to wave him off.

The voice on the other line sounded a bit defeated, and Louis was caught in the middle of feeling sorry for the man who had to deliver the message, and loathing him for delivering it anyway. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news.”

~:~

~:~

Harry was nineteen when he came back.

It had been a year.

An entire fucking year.

There hadn’t been a word from Louis since the incident. They hadn’t even just broken up. Louis just up-and-left.

He left.

Harry’s world was crashing down around him. Louis was the only person he had and he left him.

Harry couldn’t handle it. The second he hopped off the rostrum, he was met with the information that the reason his mother didn’t come was because she was dead.

Anyone would have a hard time coping with that alone. Nobody should have to, and Harry made level effort avoiding any kind of rejection or disapproval or abandonment and basically became a rat in his own home. Harry didn’t deserve that.

He blamed Louis, and he knew that he shouldn’t have. He blamed Louis because Louis let him talk down his mother and Louis made everything seem like it was going to be alright and Louis let him down and Louis left.

He left.

It was Harry’s fault too though, he knew that. He blamed Louis until he couldn’t anymore, and then he blamed himself. He blamed himself for everything bad that ever happened from the day he was born until the day of the car crash, and everything before, and everything after. He was spiraling and there was no one to catch him.

~:~

Harry was sitting on his couch, playing with his fingers because he didn’t like going online and he didn’t like watching TV and he didn’t like dealing with people anymore. His fingers were dry and his nails were chipped and he didn’t care, and he didn’t make an effort to.

He pushed a lot of people away, because being abandoned by the three most important people in his life, on the same day no less, wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world. So he never got a lot of visitors except for Liam who came twice a week.

Harry liked Liam. He was on-time and he was on routine and he knew exactly when he would stop by, and he was dependable, and he needed that.

So when it was a Monday afternoon, and Harry was staring at his chapped and pathetic fingers, waiting for night to fall so he could go to sleep, there was a knock on the door.

Harry was shocked and moved without realizing all the way to the door, and opened it, revealing a feather-haired boy he hadn’t seen since graduation, standing hunched over and stressed, hands in his pockets, and head hung low.

“Can I come in?” Louis’ voice was low and scratchy like hadn’t used it in a while.

“Why are you here?” Harry snapped coldly, irrational and angry and tired.

“I needed to see you.”

“Ha.” Harry almost shut the door on him.

“I’m being serious.”

Harry stared for a moment. “What about when I needed to see you, huh?”

Louis didn’t have a response and his silence alone was enough to make Harry want to cry awful, ugly tears. He just didn’t have the energy.

“Can I come in?”

~:~

Louis made tea and Harry didn’t drink it. Louis sat down and gathered himself and Harry started crying. He felt a bit pathetic; they both did.

Harry felt pathetic because he shouldn’t just be sitting here letting himself get re-attached to Louis because he knew he was just going to leave again. He felt pathetic because he was sitting there crying and holding a cup of perfectly-made tea, because Louis always made perfect tea. He felt pathetic because he was tired and his body was making no effort to not look tired, and he probably looked like a legitimate hot mess.

Louis felt pathetic because he knew he shouldn’t be sitting there without a proper scripted apology, or explanation, and he didn’t have words to help his cause and maybe this was a bad idea and maybe they should both just forget this and cuddle, but that’s stupid and impossible and it makes him feel even more pathetic.

“Fuck, Louis.” Harry undertoned, dismissive.

“I really am sorry. You just…” Louis squinted a bit. “You’re really strong. I admire that.”

“You’re not going to suck me back in.”

“I don’t want to do that to you.” Louis stood up, his eyes twinkling. “You don’t have to forgive me. I left because I was scared and I was overwhelmed and I couldn’t think of you because I was too busy thinking about me. I couldn’t handle it. And I’m really sorry.”

Louis walked his way to the door. “If you find it in yourself to let me back in, I’ll gladly come. I won’t ever leave you or hurt you again. You deserve better.” He let himself out and Harry stood for a second.

He inched his way to the door and dead-bolted it. Maybe later, he thought.

But the smell of the tea and the smell of general Louis and the feel of having him back was overwhelming, so he unlocked the door and looked outside. Louis was walking back home but he wasn’t too far off. Louis would hear easily if Harry raised his voice.

“Hey!” Louis turned around. “You’re alright.”

~:~


End file.
